New Portable Digital Player QA361

[Fran]

/its ok to look over hedges, but your own garden isn't exactly bare or boring!!

[Sligolad]

Nice read Pearse, you said you have to bring that Big 7 for a test at home, you can bring that player as well, to see how good it is.
What you think?

We will definitely organise a weekend this side of summer alright, any free weekend i have is given over to the DAC build lately so as soon as we finish that we can catch up. Hopefully not too far away now and I will have 3 travelling DACs then :-))

[Sligolad]

Good review here for the QA361 and fits with my findings.
Pity they did not try an SLC card and the line out which to me is the hidden treasure.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/qls-qa ... 51/reviews

[sima66]

A quick report on analogue out which for me is the greatest attribute of this unit.
No sign of the silver wired 3.5mm to RCA cable so far so I ordered a cheap cable off Amazon and got it last week https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
I was shocked when I plugged the unit into a set of RCA inputs on the Battery Amp courtesy of Nige.

To cut to the chase this single unit has blown away the Lampizator Big7 DAC and I cannot stop listening to music from it plugged direct into the Amp.
There is such a big improvement that you would wonder how it would fare against some of the best DACs out there, I am looking forward to bringing it with me to the Munich Audio show and see if any exhibitors will allow me to plug it into some of their kit by the RCA's and see what their reaction will be.

It produces a sound that feels just right and with the kind of realism and presence that makes you wonder how they could pull this off from such a small compact unit.
There are layers within music i have not experienced before and I would recommend anyone who is considering buying a real good DAC to test this unit first before you spend big money on a DAC and transport.

Might be worth a trip to Cloneys one day with it when the weather improves and see what the reaction will be.

For me it is now my transport and DAC of choice and having it for headphones is a distant second priority.
I really think this is a game changer and it will be interesting to see if the technology used in this unit will be transferred to some of the DACs the maker supply.

Hi Pearse,

Any new impressions with the little toy.....compared to Lampi? :)

[Sligolad]

Hi Pearse,

Any new impressions with the little toy.....compared to Lampi? :)

Hi Adam,

Too much going on lately to get time to go back and compare but I must do that soon, the sound signature is different with the QA361 and I really like it but I had some doubts after hearing it up against Nige's latest creation.

Just over a week ago i got to compare it against what we believe is now the final version of the SD card & USB DAC from Nige that we are building and for the first time i could easily say it was clearly beaten on sound preference by this new creation from Nige so I am looking forward to getting this new unit home and finished so I can do some proper listening across all Dacs.

We are so won over by the sound of this new unit now coming together that we are all pushing hard now to get to final assembly on the Group Build.
Once we get there in the coming weeks then I will have a real good reference to compare the Big7 and the QA361.

[sima66]

Thanks Pearse, I'm looking forward for the test! ;-)

Thing that got me the most with the QA361 is that you connected directly to the amps (no preamp), same as I use my Wadia DAC.
Plus, there is no PC, or PC tweaking, no USB chain.......can't be simpler!

[Sligolad]

Thanks Pearse, I'm looking forward for the test! ;-)

Thing that got me the most with the QA361 is that you connected directly to the amps (no preamp), same as I use my Wadia DAC.
Plus, there is no PC, or PC tweaking, no USB chain.......can't be simpler!

Connected directly to my Group build Nige battery powered amp with volume control !!!
You do not have volume control on the QA361 on Line Out

[sima66]

Oooo.....thanks, Pearse, for the clarification!

[Sligolad]

I finally got the first working build of the Nige DAC home with me at the weekend for a listen in my system and it really challenged me in figuring out why i liked the QA361 so much when i first heard it.
To set the picture straight this new design DAC from Nige with SD playback and dual mono burr brown pcm1794 chips with Supercaps power supply has the most beguiling, musical, detailed, dynamic yet smooth and fluid sound i have ever heard from a DAC.

This really challenged me as to how i was so taken by the QA361 when i heard it and what I have been able to come up with so far is that the QA361 has a signature with detailed clean dynamics that it was a such a departure from the Lampi sound which has a more fluid sound but lacked some punch and maybe this is down to the AKM chip compared to the (most Likely) pcm 1794 chips in the Big7.

What Niges new DAC has educated me on is how you can have the best of both the Big7 and QA361 sound and some more from a DAC, I had become so wrapped up in the sound of the QA361 I never realized i was missing something until i heard Niges DAC over the weekend in my own system.

So to summarize until i do more listening the QA361 still has that great clean separation and punch that many will love but if you like a more fluid sound then it may not be for you.

What surprises me is that you can have both in a DAC and while it somehow does not compute in my brain how that work,s i can say after listening to Niges DAC it is an amazing experience to hear both amazing detail and dynamics and yet think you are hearing a smooth and fluid presentation with no fatigue or attraction to the dynamics.